


Productive

by EmilyArmadillo



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aang (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Comfort No Hurt, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Post-Canon, Roku/Gyatso if you squint a lot, Spirit World, Zuko makes an appearance, so do turtle ducks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 11:48:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28653036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmilyArmadillo/pseuds/EmilyArmadillo
Summary: Aang spends a day with his Spirit World Dads.
Relationships: Aang & Gyatso (Avatar)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 25





	Productive

A couple months after the war was won, Aang decided he should start training again. His mastery of the elements had been so rushed to meet the deadline of the comet, he'd always known there'd be more to learn afterwards, if there was an afterwards. And there was. Fire Lord Zuko had recalled his nation's troops, the Earth Kingdom was rebuilding, and Water Tribe warriors returned home. On a day free of diplomatic obligations, Aang sat cross-legged by the pond in the garden of the Fire Nation palace and meditated into the spirit world.

Just months before, a younger Aang had had no idea how to contact the spirits; now, it was fairly simple to let his spirit be drawn to the presence of his previous self. Avatar Roku smiled at him. "Aang," he said. "It's good to see you."

Aang bowed respectfully. "Avatar Roku. I am ready to continue my Avatar training."

Roku continued to smile fondly. He gestured to a nearby path between fields of iridescent grasses hugged by low fog, and he and Aang began to walk. "It is true that you have more to learn, but you have done much for the world already. I hope the young Fire Lord and yourself have taken time to feel pride for what you have accomplished already."

"I do," Aang said. "When warships return to port and families are reunited, and when Zuko sits with the council that isn't a war council any longer. But I can do more. I'm ready." Aang gestured with youthful energy.

"Of that I have no doubt," Roku said.

"So where are we going?" Aang asked, looking down the path eagerly. The path turned ahead, passing behind a line of trees. It was just like the Spirit World to keep the final destination hidden.

"To someone who should like to speak to you," Roku said cryptically. Aang was reminded of how Monk Gyatso told him that someone in the Air Temple Sanctuary would be his guide and stood up straighter, preparing to meet another one of his past lives, another great warrior with deep wisdom to impart on him.

With this in mind, the destination was not as he would have expected. It was a small cottage with wide open windows behind a garden of tall flowering plants. A spiral of smoke rose from the chimney, and the smell of baked goods was on the air, sweet and comforting. Some parts of the spirit world, like the den of Ko the Face Stealer, made one's skin prickle with the feeling of unnaturalness and danger. This was the opposite. It was a place that felt like the sun shining.

The door hung open. After glancing back at Roku, who nodded, Aang stepped inside, knocking as he did.

"Hello?" he said. It was hard to feel nervous here, but he did hope there weren't any special rules he should know about this spirit, like how he couldn't show emotion to Ko. Surely Roku would have told him?

All anxiety deserted him the moment the cottage's single occupant turned around. The happiest Aang had ever seen someone was when Katara saw her father step of the airship after his rescue from prison. Aang felt that way now, times a hundred.

"Aang," Monk Gyatso said, opening his arms wide. Aang jumped into them full force and began to cry into Gyatso's robes. He held him. When the boy was no longer sobbing quite so loudly, Gyatso said, "I missed you very much."

Aang sniffled. "I wanted to come back," he said. "As soon as I left I wanted to come back. I tried to come back."

"I know," Gyatso said. "But remember what I taught you; the past is the past. Count not what you've lost. I am so, so proud of the man you've become." Aang nodded, trying to wipe his face.

"Aang was just telling me that he thinks he should spend the day training," Roku interjected from the doorway.

"Certainly not," Gyatso said. "I need an opponent for Pai Sho. You'll stay, won't you Roku? Why don't you make us some tea." Obediently the elder Avatar made a pot while Gyatso set up the game board. Aang felt rusty at first- he should start playing with his friends, he thought- but it came back to him. He told Gyatso about his friends as they played, and Gyatso laughed as he was defeated, and Roku was content to sit nearby and sip his tea.

Hours later, Aang returned to his body with a huge smile spreading across his face. The sun was on its way down. Several turtleducks that had decided to use his lap as a nest quacked irritably at him as he stretched.

Zuko saw Aang through the pillars surrounding the courtyard and waved before coming over. "I was just coming to check on you," he said. He must have been returning from dinner, because he was carrying a handful of peas that proved useful in luring the turtleducks off of the Avatar. Aang laughed as the animals chased the vegetables with their beaks outstretched.

"You're in a good mood," Zuko said. "How was training with Avatar Roku? Productive?"

"Nope," Aang said. "Today, I was just a kid."


End file.
